Uconn

FILE - This Nov. 5, 2011 file photo shows Maryland head coach Randy Edsall reacting on the sideline in the final moments of the second half of an NCAA college football game against Virginia, in College Park, Md. Bouncing back from last year's 2-10 disaster just got a whole lot more challenging for Maryland following a season-ending injury to C.J. Brown. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

STORRS -- Through the fog of anger and the cloud of utter confusion surrounding Randy Edsall's departure from UConn, something vitally important was forgotten: Without Edsall and the work he did, the Huskies might still be waiting to make a mark in big-time college football.

Edsall took a Division I-AA program that was marginally mediocre — one playoff game that took 100 years to reach — and led it to a bowl game in his sixth season. Conventional wisdom holds that at least a decade is necessary for any team moving up a level to enjoy being competitive.

For all intents and purposes, Edsall worked a football miracle. He certainly had help, from an athletic director (Lew Perkins) with a stubborn vision to a cabal of state honchos driven to get it done to a Big East Conference willing to take a chance.

Even with all that, somebody had to pull the right strings, press the right buttons, make the right moves. In nearly every instance, Edsall did that.

"I'm deeply indebted to the University of Connecticut and the state of Connecticut for the opportunity that they gave me to be the head coach," Edsall said Tuesday, this time as the head coach of a Maryland team preparing to play UConn. "I was very proud of what we were able to do there at the University of Connecticut. It's a special place to me and my family."

There is only one way to categorize the Edsall era: It was an unqualified, unexpected success. Cut through the fog and the clouds, and ultimately that's what you see.

UConn's first full year as an FBS team was 2002. The Huskies went 6-6. That's almost unfathomable given what Edsall started working with in 1999. In 2003, the Huskies were 9-3. By 2004, they were in a bowl game. In Edsall's 12 seasons, the Huskies played in five bowl games, including the Fiesta Bowl. All came within the decade the experts say it takes to build a program from the ground up.

It was a job worthy of a standing ovation. Yet, the tenure ended with a tremendous stink: Edsall slinking off to a clandestine interview with Maryland just hours after the Fiesta Bowl, his bosses, co-workers and players left in the dark until Edsall and his family were on a plane from Phoenix to Maryland. It was the stuff of a spy novel.

It was clunky and clumsily handled by Edsall. That, too, is part of who Randy Edsall is.

"If I could do it over again, I wish there was some way that I was able to see the players and tell them face-to-face that I was going to leave," Edsall said. "Due to the circumstances surrounding that, I wasn't able to do that. That's something I have to live with."

There is another part of Edsall, the part that tries desperately to sell something that is not only disingenuous but completely bogus. The story from UConn is that former athletic director Jeff Hathaway and Edsall's assistant coaches received news of the interview via text or phone call minutes after the UConn lockerroom emptied following the Fiesta Bowl.

There was time for Edsall to say something, anything, to somebody and everybody. He could have explained the situation at his introductory Maryland press conference. It never happened, and thus we're left with the lingering resentment that overshadowed his accomplishments and makes this week so much more interesting.

Not much has changed, apparently. Edsall still fumbles his way through media obligations, which is his only real exposure to the public. What was intended as a joke to begin things Tuesday came off as a shot at the media. While he said all the right things about being indebted to UConn, etc., he was later asked how he wanted to be remembered at UConn. It was a softball question that he could have hit out of the park and soothed some wounds.

Instead ...

"I would really rather talk about the game," Edsall said. "That's what's most important."

Swing. Miss.

There are so many things Edsall did well at UConn. He turned it into a program that consistently earned academic recognition. He instilled strong discipline. He won more games than any coach in UConn history and won a share of two Big East titles.

By leaving the way he did, Edsall all but erased one of the most dignified things any coach has ever done. When Jasper Howard was slain on campus on Oct. 18, 2009, it was Edsall who had to go to the hospital to identify Howard's body. He had to break the news to Howard's family.

Edsall handled the following weeks with unbelievable grace, unmatched dignity. Simply put, he was amazing.

Fifteen months later, he left with no dignity and the grace of a three-legged elephant. That one move turned what could have been a UConn career made nearly of pure gold into a shiny silver piece with obvious smudges.

The Edsall era in perspective? It was full of great success dented by one pratfall.

Post a reader comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog. Please be civil and respectful.If you're witty, to the point and quotable, your reader comments may also be included on the Around the Towns page of The Sunday Republican. Readers must be registered and logged in to post comments on the site. Registration is free. Click Here to register.
A Subscription is not required to post comments only a Registration.